After more than 2 decades of continuous but uneven efforts, the
Chinese leaders have transformed their armed forces from the huge
backward contingents of Maoist days into a modernizing army.
They have reformed all major areas of China's conventional military
establishment and upgraded their nuclear capability.

Their achievements have been impressive. Most outstanding
has been the achievement of a capacity to deter or defeat a large-
scale conventional or nuclear attack on China. However, this
objective was achieved more than a decade ago, after the Chinese
had substantially improved their existing weapons and acquired a
second-strike nuclear capability. And its achievement was due as
much to China's natural assets as to its military development.

Since then, the Chinese have doubtless greatly strengthened this
capacity. However, they are still a long way from achieving their
most fundamental objectives outside China: to confidently deter, or
defeat, American intervention in a war with Taiwan; to effectively
challenge U.S. military presence in the Pacific; and, over the long
haul, to acquire a military posture that will underpin recognition of
China as a great power.

The desire to attain these objectives--strengthened by the political
clout of the military and by China's projected economic progress-ensures that People's Liberation Army (PLA) modernization will
continue in the coming decades. However, while this combination
sets the direction for the Chinese armed forces, it alone does not
determine the pace, scope, and content of military modernization.
These will be shaped by concrete circumstances that will influence
the modernization process as bumps or boosters.

External Realities.

While long-term aspirations may drive China's military
modernization, its mode in a particular period has been determined

Print this page

While we understand printed pages are helpful to our users, this limitation is necessary
to help protect our publishers' copyrighted material and prevent its unlawful distribution.
We are sorry for any inconvenience.